LARAMIE, Wyo. (Oct. 8, 2026) – The Wyoming Cowgirls opened their week against Air Force with a hard-fought four-set victory Thursday night over the Falcons. Set scores went 25-21, 22-25, 25-23 and 25-23 in the competitive match.
Wyoming (9-7, 2-3 MW) controlled much of the match's opening set, turning an early 6-5 deficit into a 13-9 lead. The Cowgirls would eventually lead by six points, twice, later in the frame and eventually halted a late Air Force rally to take the first. The second set followed much of the same script, only this time it was the Falcons who controlled the set to tie the match at one set each.
The third set started out with AFA with the advantage before an extended Cowgirl run of 10-2 built a 20-16 UW lead. After the Falcons got to within one, 22-21, the Brown & Gold ended the set with a 4-2 mini run to win the third. In the fourth, Air Force took an 11-9 lead before another Cowgirl run pushed them in front 17-13 later in the set. UW would lead the rest of the match, despite the Falcons narrowing the gap to 24-23 before an Abi Milby kill ended the contest in favor of the Cowgirls.
UW hit .228 on the night while holding the Falcons to a .188 team hitting percentage. The Falcons held an 11-8 advantage in team blocks and also had one more service ace (4-3) in the match. Both teams had double-digit serving errors.
Rylee Heinz led the Cowgirl offense with 13 kills in the win. Emma Winter and Paige Lauterwasser also finished in double figures with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Milby, meanwhile, added nine kills, hit .467 and tied a career-high with three blocks. Winter also had three blocks while Heinz paced the UW defense with four total blocks.
At setter, Sara Quigley recorded a double-double as she led Wyoming with 24 assists and had 10 digs to go along with an ace. Maddy Stucky added 23 assists of her own and had a service ace. Lauterwasser led UW with 16 digs on the night and had three assists.
Saturday now, the Cowgirls and Falcons face off agin, this time in Colorado Springs for a 2 p.m., matchup.
Watch Wyoming Athletics all season long on the MW+ with all UW home games and all MW conference games on the state-of-the-art app. Fans will also find replays of games, Ragtime Replays featuring great contests in Wyoming history along with other exclusive content. A majority of each subscription purchased through Wyoming's dedicated page will directly support Wyoming Athletics and the Cowboy Joe Club, creating a scalable and sustainable revenue opportunity aligned with fan engagement.
-WYO-
